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Student Attitudes to Engagement – a case study of engineering programmes. Margaret Morgan and Pearse O’Gorman School of Engineering. School of Engineering. Main programmes : MEng \BEng Hons BSc Hons. 834 FTEs . Clean Technology Biomedical Engineering Electronic Engineering - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Student Attitudes to Engagement – a case study of engineering programmes
Margaret Morgan and Pearse O’Gorman School of Engineering
Clean TechnologyBiomedical EngineeringElectronic EngineeringMechatronic EngineeringEngineering ManagementMechanical EngineeringSports TechnologyTechnology with Design
Main programmes: MEng\BEng Hons
BSc Hons
• HESA: mechanical/production /manufacturing engineering
~ 33% of student numbers
834 FTEs
School of Engineering
Rationale
How we might engage our students more effectively?
Engagement
retention
NSS results
Approach
(1) Heller, R et al, Student and Faculty Perceptions of Engagement in Engineering, Journal of Engineering Education, 2010(2) Bjorkland, S.,and Fortenberry, N., Measuring Faculty and Student Engagement in Engineering Education, CASEE Report 5902001-20050705
Investigate what could be done improve ‘engagement’
Questionnaire – closed and free response
Heller1 and CASEE2
All years were surveyed – response rate 51%
Student Focus groups
First Second Final All years.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Yes No
Students’ familiarity with the term ‘engagement’
Survey Results
Lecturer views on a fully engaged student
• attend all timetabled classes, prepared, on time and contribute enthusiastically in class discussion.
• occupy themselves with purposeful activities when they are not in class.
• devote at least 35 hrs per week to their studies inclusive of class contact time.
Students’ perception of their participation levels
85% considered that they participated fully in their studies
65% believed that attending alltimetabled classes is important
Typical class contact (hours): 18 – First Year
18 – Second Year
15 – Final Year
How many hours do students spend on their studies outside timetabled classes?
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.001.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
Benefit
Enjo
ymen
t
Large lecture
Perceived benefit and enjoyment
Engineering AssignmentsSmall lecture
Oral Presentations
Tutorial
Laboratory/Workshop
Team projects
Management assignments
Enjoyable (fun) activities tend to improve participation
Easy to learn situations/activities
Free responses were categorised into five main areas:
• Relating theory to professional practice• Lecturer attributes• Programme organisation• Team working• e-Learning opportunities
Three things that SEng should do to enhance student participation?
Category Student suggestions Free response
%
Relating theory to professional practice
Real-life assignmentsPractical laboratory workIndustrial visits
56
Lecturer attributes Interested in studentsEnthusiasm for subjectClear communicatorApproachable
44
Programme organisation TimetablingBalanced assignment workloadFewer large lectures
38
Team-working Design-type assignmentsSmall-group tutorials
29
e-Learning opportunities Podcasts, BlackBoard, CAE, softwareLectures and assignments on-line
17
Focus Groups
• Two groups with 8 students per group – balanced representation across the two programmes and across all years
• Groups asked to address those main categories identified for improvement
• Validate free responses
• Explore what students believe would enhance their engagement
1. Real-life assignments, engineering activities
Material is more interesting when we see its relevance. Lecturers should relate lecture material using real-life examples/anecdotes.
Assignments and exercises should be
related to ‘real’ engineering.
Company visits - to see what engineering is about- what jobs engineers do.
Science and maths is easier to understand when we see where it is used in everyday situations.
2. Lecturer attributes
Like to feel that our lecturers care about us and make an effort to be helpful.
Good if he/she can relate classroom
material to real-life engineering problems.
Humorous
Classes are more interesting if the lecturer uses a variety of media, e.g. videos, software, demonstrations.
Approachable, available outside class and provides good feedback on our assignments.
We like a lecturer that encourages interaction and allows us to ask questions.
3. Programme Organisation
Our timetables sometimes don’t seem to take account of the expense of travelling to Uni or accommodating a part-time job.
10 am starts are better than 9 am as rush-
hour is avoided.
We would prefer 3 reasonably busy days per week.
Fewer large lectures.Not good for asking questions and whenever questions are asked they tend to break the flow.
Class duration: 2 hours max. Ideally an hour long and no more than an hour gap between classes.
Easier to learn where there is a clear link between the lecture and tutorial class.
4. Team-working
Enjoyable – provided we have clear outline of what’s expected.
Good if all team members contribute equally.
We see the benefit of ‘team-work’ for industry.
Put good students together in groups.
We don’t like group work in final year.
We like ‘shared experience’ of working together in small group tutorial. Makes you feel part of a team.
5. e-Learning
Notes available beforehand to ease notetaking.
Make notes available on a week-by week basis.
Specialist engineering software should be available somewhere we can socialise together informally.
Podcasts would let us access information and revise when it suits us.
Thank you